It’s an open secret in league and media circles that the Bucs will pay Revis the deal he wants, worth $15 million or more. Some league insiders believe that the Buccaneers and agents Neil Schwartz and Jonathan Feinsod, who worked together to bring Vincent Jackson to Tampa last year, have worked out the parameters of the contract Revis would receive. Absent express permission from the Jets, that could amount to a clear case of tampering.

Brian Bassett, TheJetsBlog.com

Tampering is a common occurrence in the NFL, and is a pet peeve of PFT. They harp on this topic all the time. But is this an example of biting the hand that feeds PFT? The guy who two days ago was reporting that the compensatory hang-ups were squarely on the Jets side (gee where did that come from?) and who has seemingly waged a shadow war for the sides aligned against the Jets … now writes this? What gives?

No announcement has been made about the Jets allowing Schwartz and Feinsod openly speak with the Bucs, but based on some of the developments that PFT has posted, it is not much of a leap to assume that PFT would know had there been such an authorization. Even if the Jets haven’t authorized it, it is safe to assume that some backdoor or coded conversations have taken place between the agency and Tampa Bay to keep the team interested all this time.

It’s possible that there is around $5-6 million worth of “found money” up for grabs in 2013 (as opposed to waiting until 2014) for the player and the agency. Could the slight risk of getting slapped for tampering outweigh the multi-million dollar reward for pressuring a deal?

In some weird way, I’m tempted to ask if this another gambit. Is someone behind the scenes playing with fire to (yet again) create urgency on the Jets part?

Would publicly voiced concerns about tampering (which will spread all over the web and news from PFT) give the league office an opportunity to start digging into the matter? Would such an investigation potentially impede a transaction between the teams due to an ongoing investigation? Would fear of the deal falling apart be another dirty tactic to get the Jets to cave in?